Wedding Night
by Clara Barton
Summary: On the eve of his best friend's wedding, Trowa has a different night than he had planned.


A/N: A little one-shot for Maevemauvaise (but I AM going to work this pairing into more things in the future! You have completely inspired me!

A/N 2: more Vegasy things from me that some of you might recollect from _Umbra_. Also… well that would be a spoiler but if you REMEMBER I'm sure you will appreciate Trowa's ah… you'll see.

Warnings: this might be the tamest thing I have EVER written

Pairings: 2x5 and… brace yourselves 3xR (shock, horror, I know. A straight Trowa?!)

Wedding Night

"You've got the ring, right?"

Trowa didn't bother to look up from his perusal of the mini-bar. It was incredibly well stocked. He reached for a mini bottle of Yamazaki whiskey - he hadn't even known this came in mini bottles.

"What ring?"

"What do you mean _what ring_?

Trowa looked up to see Duo's eyes wide, his mouth open, his entire body a sketch of anxiety. Trowa stared back, expressionless as he opened the bottle and took a sip.

He shrugged.

"I don't know - you're the one who asked about it."

Duo looked on the verge of homicide. He ran one hand through his bangs, his go to gesture for 'I'm about to lose my shit and I need to calm down before I do something that gets me sent to prison.'

" _The_ ring, Trowa. _The_ ring. I -"

Trowa held up the ring in question.

"You mean this one?"

Duo's eyes widened, then narrowed, and he shook his head.

"I swear to God I'm going to murder you Trowa. For fuck's sake did you have to do that to me _today_ of all days? That's just cruel, man!"

Trowa couldn't suppress his smirk any longer.

"I just wanted to give you an out - in case you were having second thoughts. Can't marry him without a ring, right?"

Duo snorted, then laughed, the sound tinged with hysteria.

"I'm not - I don't need an _out_. I mean - he's -I'm - Trowa. I don't need an out."

It sounded more like a question than a statement.

Trowa winced and passed Duo the mini bottle. His best friend finished it off in one gulp.

"Only if you want one," Trowa assured him. He fussed with Duo's black vest, smoothing it down over his black dress shirt. He had never seen Duo look so put together - it was ironic that despite the unrelieved black of Duo's tuxedo, shirt, vest and bow-tie were for his wedding and not a funeral. Trowa briefly debated teasing Duo about that but decided he was already too on edge.

"Do you need an out?" He asked as he returned to the mini-bar.

He was jealous of how well stocked the Mandalay Bay hotel rooms were - the rooms at the Rio were nothing like this. Maybe he would have to casually steer a one night stand over to this hotel instead. Of course, he had a discount at the Rio so…

"No. I - no. No, _I_ don't need one. But -"

Trowa pulled himself out of his thoughts.

"What you think _he_ needs one? You think Wufei doesn't want to marry you?"

Duo gave him a miserable look.

"Trowa. He's fucking royalty and I'm - I've got nothing. I mean, I'm a _nurse_ with no familiar and nothing and he's -"

"He's not royalty. His family owns a lot of shit and he was born into the lap of luxury while you've had to claw your way up from nothing. That makes you worth ten of him."

I am not worth ten of him. He's brilliant -"

"And if you even think about telling me that you're any less brilliant I'm going to flush the ring down the toilet because this isn't a relationship you should be in - much less committing the rest of your life to."

Duo closed his eyes and sighed. His hands strayed to his bangs again.

"No. No I know I'm brilliant - he does too. Hell, we argue about literature and philosophy and -"

"And nerd things," Trowa reminded him, remembering one evening where he had had to listen to them argue about the probability of Spiderman being featured in the Civil War movies and then, earlier this year, the celebratory dinner they had invited him to when Spiderman had been reaquired.

"Yeah, and nerd things," Duo agreed and got a goofy smile on his face that Trowa felt his lips quirking upwards in response to.

"Well, if you don't marry his uptight ass I don't see who else ever will so… are we doing this thing?"

Duo drew in a deep breath, let it out, and nodded.

"Yeah. Let's just drink a few more of those mini-bottles."

Trowa arched an eyebrow at him.

Duo shrugged one shoulder defensively.

"His family is paying for the room. After all the hoops I've had to jump through for them, I'm feeling just petty enough to make them pay a few extra bucks."

"I think you mean a few extra _hundred_ ," Trowa muttered but gamely returned to the fridge and started rooting around for the most expensive looking bottles he could find.

-o-

"I, Wufei Chang, take thee, Duo Maxwell to be my husband. You are my lover, my accomplice, my greatest fan and my toughest adversary. I promise to always be honest with you, to forgive, to - to _aim_ for patience but always be understanding. I love you, Duo Maxwell and I will spend the rest of my life by your side."

Trowa, from his place behind Duo, couldn't see his best friend's face but he saw the way his shoulders tensed and he knew that Duo was fighting back tears. He could see Wufei's face perfectly well, however.

The man's dark eyes were focused on Duo, his expression serious and Trowa was positive that most of the assembled guests would take Wufei's stiff posture and face for anything but passion. But Trowa had known Wufei long enough now to know that the man was just as close to tears as Duo, just as amazed that this day was happening.

Trowa had to smile.

These two had come a long way from their first meeting - in an Econ class at UNLV where Duo had called Wufei a capitalist pig and Wufei had returned the favor by calling Duo a blind anarchist.

Standing behind Wufei was a woman smiling fondly at the two as well.

Trowa had never met her - never seen her before her entrance ahead of Wufei this afternoon.

Relena Darlian was supposedly one of Wufei's closest friends, a childhood acquaintance who lived in New York and had flown back to Las Vegas just for the wedding.

She had been at the rehearsal dinner last night but Trowa had been working. Duo hadn't hesitated, however, to fill him in on all of her fine qualities this morning as they got ready for the ceremony.

"She's hot," Duo had assured him. "And snarky as hell but weirdly idealistic. You'd like her."

Trowa had just rolled his eyes. Duo's attempts to set him up with girls had been going on for more than a decade at this point. And while he appreciated the thought, Duo was focused on finding Trowa the perfect girl to settle down with while all Trowa was interested in - all he thought himself capable of - was the perfect girl to spend the night with before moving on.

Trowa had to agree with Duo's assessment of Relena's looks at least - she was definitely hot.

Duo and Wufei walked down the aisle together to the applause of their guests and Trowa offered Relena his arm to escort her out.

She quirked an elegant eyebrow but placed her hand on his arm.

He arched an eyebrow of his own in response.

"I saw you checking me out during the vows," she said in a low voice as they walked down the aisle.

"I saw you checking _me_ out," he replied.

She laughed.

"Well, you were standing right there."

"You know, if I said that I would be a sexist pig."

She shrugged one shoulder.

"According to what I've been told you _are_ a sexist pig."

By this point they were outside the hall where the wedding had been held and the other guests were starting to leave as well.

Trowa dropped his arm.

"What does that mean?"

"It means that Wufei warned me you would try to turn me into one of your numerous one night stands if I so much as gave you the time of day."

Trowa scoffed, but made a mental note to pay Wufei pack for this somehow.

Relena was giving him a look.

"What?" He asked defensively.

"Do you deny it?"

"Well - I'm not going to _now_. I don't really have a gameplan for wooing the maid of honor when she's been told I'm a sexist pig who wants to add her to my list of conquests."

"Oh but you had alternate plans for wooing the maid of honor?"

Trowa had to smirk.

"Wouldn't you like to know."

She opened her mouth to respond but a flood of Wufei's friends and relatives rushed to her side.

Trowa smirked again, offered a wave, and made his escape.

He had promised to get over to the reception venue as quickly as possible and double and triple check everything for Duo while he and Wufei had their post-ceremony wedding photos taken at Mandalay Bay.

He wondered, as he made his way to the parking garage and got on his motorcycle, if he should have offered Relena a ride. He doubted she would have been thrilled to climb onto the back of his bike while wearing that fitted green dress that would no doubt have ridden up when she hopped on.

He liked that mental image, more than he probably should so he shoved it to the back of his mind and took off for Firefly.

-o-

Trowa was keeping a close eye on the open bar - Duo had stubbornly insisted on paying for the reception since Wufei's family was paying for the wedding and he didn't want to be taken for a money-grubbing miscreant - when he noticed Relena working very diligently to fend off the attentions of Heero Yuy, a nurse that Duo worked with.

Trowa was amused.

Heero was a good friend, but didn't exactly have the best people skills. Trowa had tried to be his wingman a few times over the years, but those evenings usually resulted in both of them going home alone and Duo having more fodder to tease both of them with.

It looked like Heero was making a genuine effort with Relena though. He was dancing with her for the second dance in a row and as they twirled past Trowa he heard Heero speaking.

"...as bad as the time I had to reset an open fracture."

The look on Relena's face was one of polite horror. Her smile was tight and her blue eyes wide.

Trowa decided to save her.

"Mind if I cut in?" He walked over to them.

Heero frowned but Relena gave him a look of pure relief.

"You know, best man and maid of honor whatever. They'll want pictures. I promise I won't keep her all night," Trowa assured Heero.

Heero nodded.

"It was a pleasure," he said to Relena before relinquishing her hand.

"I hate that I owe you now," Relena mumbled as she stepped into his arms.

Trowa smirked and tried very, very hard not to notice how nice she smelled. She smelled clean and fresh and - he shook himself. It wasn't going to happen. She had been warned off him and besides, if Duo liked her it meant she was the kind of girl who only did long term relationship things.

"Heero's not that bad," Trowa felt the need to defend his friend.

"No he's not. He - he seems very intense and dedicated to his…"

"Mission to save lives?" Trowa filled in for her, having heard the speech before - having tried to convince Heero on multiple occasions that women would spoon as soon as he said he was a pediatric nurse and that going on about his _mission_ wasn't necessary.

"Yes. That. I'm sure you get to hear all about it at work."

Trowa arched an eyebrow.

"At work?"

"You don't work with Heero and Duo?"

"No. No I don't." Trowa tried to picture it - tried to imagine himself as a nurse; tried to imagine Heero and Duo at _his_ job; he failed miserably on both counts.

"Oh. Duo said you were on call last night and that's why you weren't at the rehearsal dinner. I just assumed you worked with them at the hospital."

Trowa closed his eyes and made a mental note to get back to Duo for _that_ oh so ambiguous set up.

"I was on call. I'd arranged to have the night off but there was an emergency at work and I had to fill in."

Relena nodded, eyebrows raised in question.

"I work at Chippendales. The dancer that was supposed to cover for me couldn't make it so I had to go in."

"Oh. _Oh_. You're a stripper." It was clear that Relena was trying not to laugh.

"Performer," he corrected out of habit.

Her lips twitched in amusement but she nodded gamely.

"Yes. A performer. Sorry."

"We can't all be interns at the UN trying to save the world," Trowa snarked.

"No, I don't suppose we can," she agreed. "Some of us need to make the world a…. a more _exotic_ place instead."

"Did you just -"

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I had to." She made a visible effort to get over her humor. "No I think it's very - very impressive that you are a st - performer."

Trowa rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. Why don't I signal Heero and get him to -"

"No, no, no," Relena said and tightened her grip on his shoulder and his hand. "No more jokes about your work. I promise."

They danced in silence for a few minutes before Trowa realized just how nice this was. How nice she felt in his arms, how nice it was to just… be here with her.

"What's it like working at the UN?" He felt compelled to ask.

She shrugged.

"I've learned how to ask 'how do you take your coffee' in twelve languages."

Trowa smirked.

"Now you're just trying to make me feel about."

"No, it's really pretty much fetching coffee and paperwork. But it's going to put me on a path to making a real difference so… it's worth it for now."

There was a determined glint in her eyes that Trowa found oddly inspiring.

It wasn't until Duo came over and cleared his throat that Trowa realized just how long he had been dancing with Relena.

"So… it's been about twelve songs since you two started dancing," Duo said with a grin. "Mind if I cut in for a dance with the maid of honor?"

"It has not been -"

"Okay not twelve but at least four," Duo corrected himself when Trowa scowled.

Duo turned to Relena and held out a hand.

"Shall we?"

Relena smiled at Trowa before taking Duo's hand.

"Thanks again for the save."

-o-

It was nearly eight that night when Trowa finished collecting the disposable cameras that Duo and Wufei had set up on the guest tables for everyone to take pictures with.

The last of the very drunk guests had finally left twenty minutes ago, more than two hours after Duo and Wufei had left for the airport and their honeymoon in Hawaii.

Trowa zipped up the duffel bag around the last camera and sighed.

He was happy for them - happy they had had the day that both of them wanted despite Wufei's family trying to mold the ceremony and reception into something that found more appropriate - but he was also exhausted and couldn't wait to call into bed at his apartment.

Trowa waved in farewell to the hostess - an old friend who had gotten them an excellent discount - and walked outside into the chill Vegas night.

He started to walk towards his bike when he noticed a lone figure in a sleek green dress standing alone.

"I thought Heero was going to give you a ride back to the hotel."

Relena scowled.

"I told him I had to get something for Wufei and to go ahead. I called for a cab twenty minutes ago but -"

Trowa nodded in sympathy.

"It's a Saturday night. Might be a bit of a wait."

She sighed and hugged her arms, clearly cold.

Trowa hesitated, then shrugged out of his jacket.

Relena eyed it curiously.

"You're cold?"

"A little."

"I hear garments with long sleeves and lining help with that."

Her lips twitched but she accepted the jacket and put it on. Trowa told himself he absolutely did not find her even more attractive in his clothes.

He set his duffle bag on the ground and leaned against the restaurant beside her.

"What are you doing?"

"Waiting with you for your cab.

"You don't have to do that."

"I do if I want my jacket back."

"Oh. Right." She shook her head, tossing her long bangs out of her eyes and setting her long blond hair swaying for a moment.

They waited in silence for fifteen minutes.

"You know, I could just give you a ride," Trowa said eventually, starting to get cold himself.

"This whole time… I thought you didn't have a car or were just waiting so you could call some girl to come pick you up."

"I don't have a car," Trowa said. He gestured to his bike. "But I have an extra helmet."

Relena looked at the bike and then back at Trowa.

"You're a walking cliche."

"What?"

"You - Mr. One Night Stand with the motorcycle and the -" she gestured at him - "perfect body that's so perfect you're a stripper for God's sake."

Trowa didn't know whether to be amused or offended.

"Well, if you'd rather just wait here for a cab, this cliche can take back his jacket and be on his way."

Relena sighed.

"That's not - ugh. I'm sorry. It's been a long day and I'm still on New York time and yes. Yes I'd like a ride back to my hotel."

Trowa made a grand gesture towards his bike.

Relena rolled her eyes but pushed away from the wall and followed him over.

He put the helmet on her head and couldn't help but smirk.

"What?" She demanded.

"Nothing. You look adorable."

She made a huffing sound but Trowa noticed one corner of her lips tilt upwards.

He climbed on and waited for her to settle behind him. She seemed to have trouble figuring out what to do with her hands so Trowa just reached back, grabbed them and wrapped them around his waist.

Her grip tightened as soon as he revved the bike and he had to force himself not to look down at her pale thighs, at the exposed skin where her dress had ridden up.

The ride back to Mandalay Bay was too short, he couldn't help but think, as he pulled into the circle in front of the hotel and Relena climbed off the bike.

She handed the helmet back to him and then stood there biting her lip for a moment.

"Thank you for the ride - and for the save earlier," she finally said.

Trowa nodded.

"Thank you for the dances at the wedding. You saved me from getting thrown at Wufei's cousin yet again."

"Meilin?" Relena laughed. "Oh - you two… that would be too funny."

"Every time I see her she undresses me with her eyes," Trowa complained.

"I can't say I really blame her," Relena said and her face flushed and she slapped a hand over her mouth.

"You know, I'm more than just a piece of meat for you to ogle. I have thoughts and feelings."

Relena glared.

" _Anyway_ ," she said. "I'll… Well I don't know when I'll see you again but… it was good meeting you."

"You too," Trowa said.

She smiled at him again, looked on the verge of saying something, then shook her head and started to walk away.

"Relena!" He called after her.

She stopped and looked back at him and Trowa wondered if he was imagining the hopeful look in her eyes.

"You still have my jacket."

"Oh. I - I'm so sorry."

She pulled if off as she walked back to him and handed it over.

He put one hand on hers over the jacket.

"It's really too bad I never got to use one of my gameplans on you," he said.

She laughed and he had to laugh along with her, the sound was so infectious.

"Well, I _am_ staying in town for a few days before I go back home. Maybe… maybe you could show me around?"

"Maybe," he agreed.

Relena narrowed her eyes.

"I'd love to," he amended and she smiled again. "Goodnight, Relena."

"Goodnight, Trowa."


End file.
